 |
|
|
Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden |
In the heart of bustling downtown Vancouver, Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden offers a cultural experience. It is a feast for the senses and the mind, acclaimed for providing peace, tranquility, and delight for the nature lover, cultural tourist, philosopher, and sightseeing visitor.
Serenity pervades a Chinese garden of the Ming dynasty, for this is a place of retreat from the doings of humankind. It is where the scholar official could indulge his "longing for mountains and water" without turning his back on his unrelenting obligations to state and family.
Originally designed by Taoist poets, classical gardens were meant to create an atmosphere of tranquility for contemplation and inspiration. The Chinese calligraphic inscription above the entrance to the Garden means "Garden of Ease." There are four major elements in the Garden: water, rock, plants and architecture. The relationship of these four elements reflect the Taoist belief in Yin and Yang--opposites that must be in balance to create harmony.
Serenity is only the first of infinite layers that reveal themselves. The object of the garden is to capture all the elements of the natural landscape--mountains, rivers, lakes, trees, valleys, hills--and, by bringing them together in a small space, to concentrate the life force, the qi, that animates them.
The peace and tranquility inside a classical Chinese garden reflect the many symbols found within. It is a harmony of contrasts, of dark and light, solid and empty, hard and soft, straight and undulating, yin and yang. This place was created to be savoured over a lifetime. New meanings are found in the symbolic objects and plants; new pictures are seen as shadows play across the rocks. The Garden unfolds itself slowly.
Contact Information:
578 Carrall Street
Vancouver, BC
Canada V6B 5K2
Phone: 604 662 3207
Fax: 604 682 4008
© Source: Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden - Text and images property of respective owners.
|
|
